


Fearless

by queen_scribbles



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-02
Updated: 2017-03-02
Packaged: 2018-09-27 22:31:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10054442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: fearless; adjective; without fear; bold or brave; intrepid.





	

Fearless was a funny word. It seemed like a good thing when you saw it on paper,  the definition clearly lettered beside it. Not being afraid of things, not letting fear hold you back, seemed admirable. Desirable, even.

Until you were watching the woman you loved _fearlessly_  dash into a burning house because there were people inside who needed saving. Unfortunately, by that point, Aloth was already in far, far too deep to stop. There was nothing for him to do but wait and watch. Heart in his throat, her name on the tip of his tongue, fingers anxiously twisting one of his rings, he _waited_.

Flames licked out the window, a massive column of smoke billowed into the sky, stressed and burning beams creaked and settled as the seconds stretched like hours. Something inside the house groaned and fell with a crash and he couldn't stand it any longer.

"Tavi!" He hadn't realized til he heard it in his voice how desperate he was. This was even worse than the ogres they had just finished fighting. Then at least he'd been able to _see_  her. Help as necessary. Now... the only spells he knew that involved ice and snow and might help with putting out the fire also called up wind, which would be more than a little counter-productive. There was nothing he could do. 

_What if she gets disoriented? What if a doorway collapses? What if she runs out of air? What-_  

His list was interrupted as Tavi stumbled out of the house, wracked by a coughing fit, the slender form of an unconscious woman slung over her shoulder. The roof caved in before she'd made it half a dozen steps away, showering the air with embers and making it clear just how close she'd cut it as she wobbled and fell.

"Tavi!" He made it to her side before the relief hit full-force and his knees gave out. They knelt there in the snow, Aloth's hand on Tavi's shoulder as she coughed and he tried to calm his galloping heart.

"That..." she began as soon as she could speak, "is a tad closer than I meant to cut it."

Aloth raised an eyebrow as another coughing fit seized her. "Just a tad?" he said dryly, positive she could hear the tremor in his voice. "You really had me worried for a minute there."

"Only.. a minute?" Tavi panted, flashing him a soot-streaked grin. "That's a... that's an improvement." She reached up to rest a hand on his arm, something in his face turning her serious. "I'd promise not to do it again..."

"I wouldn't want you making promises you can't keep," he assured her, trying to sound light-hearted about it, but his voice still shook.

Tavi snorted softly, smiled, and squeezed his arm in joint gratitude and apology. "'Preciate that. Now, let's go talk to the mayor." She stood, gathered her cloak and weapons from where she'd dropped them before entering the house, and headed for the stairs toward Mayor Renengild's house.

Somewhere in the back of his mind Iselmyr chuckled. _"ye didn't know what ya were gettin' yerself intae w' tha' one, didja?"_  

_Oh hush,_  he retorted irritably. _I absolutely did_.

>|<

It was a good thing Tavi didn't make that promise. She'd have broken it the very next day. This time, diving into a frozen over lake in the Russetwood, through a hole barely large enough to fit her. It was harder to bite back protest this time; she was going after a trinket, not a person, and no matter what this necklace was worth to Okrun, it _wasn't_  worth her freezing to death. Not to him.

Sagani, ever the practical one, yanked a blanket out of her pack and handed it to him. "Here. For when she comes back up. I'm gonna start a fire."

Aloth nodded, glancing at the hole in the ice as he took the blanket. "Thank you."

"She'll be fine, ya know," the dwarf commented. "Watcher's got some kind of extra luck or somethin'."

He nodded agaain, not voicing his concern that one day that luck would run out and he'd see her fearlessness get her killed. With a last reassuring smile, Sagani set to work building a fire, sheltering the flame from the wind by stretching Tavi's cloak between the hilts of her sabres.

Fortunately for his sanity, their fearless leader reappeared after just over a minute, breath huffing out in warm clouds as she bobbed in the water. "Hey, little help?"

Kana obliged, reaching down to haul her out by the arm. As she came free of the icy water, the elf dropped several small chests bearing Ondra's seal on the frozen ground.

"Treasure hunt's not over just yet," she announced cheerily, grinning with blue lips even as she shivered.

"You really are crazy, aren't you?" Aloth couldn't help muttering as he wrapped the blanket around her, noting that her hair had frozen in stiff, stringy sections.

"I prefer fearless," she corrected mischievously, holding the blanket around her like a cape and leaning in to kiss the tip of his nose. Her lips were _freezing_.

"Yes, well, I prefer you _alive_ ," he shot back, 'helping' Sagani's fire along with a hastily murmured incantation.

"My hero," Tavi sighed in grateful relief, perching on a log near the heat of the dancing flame and pulling the blanket up to cover her head as  well.

_You wouldn't need me to be if you just thought things through a little more._  He didn't voice the thought, instead sitting next to her on the log, close enough to share body heat if necessary, and reached for one of the chests. The sooner they could end this 'treasure hunt', the better.

>|<

For a little while--a day or two--it seemed almost as if Tavi had read his mind and agreed with him. She was still all too willing to throw herself between members of their group and danger, but she seemed to have at least the rough outline of a plan(beyond _take the hit_ ) in mind when she did it. That started to fade, however, the further they went into Durgan's Battery. A large portion of the fighting happened in choke points--arched doorways, parts of the hall half-filled with rubble--and Tavi kept charging in first to push back the enemy, so she was back to her old reckless self in no time. 

Which was probably why her eyes lit up at the sight of the mine cart.

"Tavi, no," he hissed as he watched her size up the cart.

"We'll fit!" she protested. "It'll be a little tight, but we'll fit. I really don't want us splittin' up, an' there might be something down there we need. Y'know, for gettin' in the fuckin' workshop or one of the other doors."

Crazy an idea as it was, she'd obviously thought it through, and he couldn't think of any objections in the heat of the moment. So they all piled into the cart, wriggling and shifting(some of them swearing) until they figured out an arrangement that was sort of comfortable.

He must have been lousy at concealing his trepidation, because Tavi looked over and grinned at him. "C'mon, city slicker, where's your sense of adventure?"

"Safely enveloped in a layer of caution," Aloth shot back, grip already tight on the rusty edge of the mine cart. "Where it belongs."

She just grinned even wider and nodded at Kana and Pallegina. As the largest members of the group, the chanter and the paladin were both toward the back and thus responsible for getting them started. It wasn't that hard to do, and once they picked up speed it quickly became apparent _stopping_  would be more of a problem than keeping momentum. Especially given how steep some of the hills were; they were traveling fast enough there was barely time to see what was coming.

This was probably why Tavi abruptly straightened, tensed, and all but _lunged_  at something outside the cart as they barreled along. Aloth instinctively-- _I've been traveling with her too long_ \--reached after her, his fingers closing around her belt just as _her_ fingers hit whatever she was reaching for. She grabbed and pulled, their impetus wrenching her shoulder with a jolt Aloth could feel through his grip on her belt. He heard her grunt in pain, the sound barely discernible under the loud clunk of something _shifting_  on the tracks ahead.

He was about to ask what the blazes she'd been thinking when the cart veered right at a Y-split where left would have slammed them into a collapsed shaft. So he asked something different as he hauled her back. "How did you know?"

"Three decades on the run," Tavi replied with a shrug(which immediately led to a grimace). "You get real good at noticin' lotsa details really fast. And makin' plans in your head equally fast."

Aloth watched her wriggle her fingers and test the damage to her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

She nodded. "Considerin' that coulda ended with a dislocated shoulder or my arm gettin' ripped straight off, I'm peachy. Nothin' a little rest won't fix."

He shook his head as the cart actually slowed to a stop on its own, landing them in a whole new section of the mines. "I feel obligated to reiterate that you are more than a little crazy."

Tavi smiled as she accepted his help out of the mine cart, landing ever so slightly off-balance. "And I feel obliged to repeat that I prefer _fearless_ , ciity slicker," she retorted, grip tighteing briefly on his hand as she regained her balance. "It's one of the things you love about me."

A reluctant smmile tugged at his lips. "True. Still, I do prefer you alive, remember."

"Noted," she laughed, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. "I'll do my best."

She still took point as they cautiously proceeded into the mines, ever the shield between her friends and danger.

>|<

The final battle for the White Forge was... utter chaos. And one of the closer fights he could recall them having. At least, the portion he was conscious for was. It was interesting, Aloth thought vaguely, getting a taste of what was usually Tavi's experience. The Forge Guardian with reflexes _slightly_  faster than his own, the backhand blow from its huge hammer that slammed him into the wall(mid-casting, too) hard enough he'd swear he felt his teeth rattle. Hearing Tavi scream his name as his head ricocheted off the carved mural and everything went black. _So this is what it's like for her..._  

He came to on his own, after the fight was done, with a splitting headache and Iselmyr berating him. He wasn't sure which bothered him more.

"Aloth?!"

He shook his head, which made the pounding worse but cleared most of the cobwebs from his brain.

"Aloth!!" There was a hand on his shoulder, which hurt, and Tavi looking impressively pale, considering her natural complexion. "Are you alright, you idiot? Why didn't you just _move_? What was so _fucking_  important about that sp-"

He kissed her. For once in his life threw caution to the wind, borrowed a page from _her_  book, and kissed her. His fingers tangled in her hair, hers curled around the collar of his armor, and it did far more to help with his headache than he would have expected. "I think I understand you just a little bit better now," he whispered when he pulled back for air.

"Ya do, huh?" Tavi chuckled softly. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "That... was _you_  right? As in _Aloth_?"

He laughed as he nodded and rested hs forehead against hers. "Aye. And the spell was meant to even your odds a bit. Just because you can handle three on one better than I can doesn't mean I'm going to _let_  you. It was almost done and I was really hoping-"

"You're crazy, Corfiser," she informed him cheerfully, stealing another kiss.

"I have it on good authority the preferred term is fearless," he corrected, wry teasing in his voice.

"And _I_  have it on good authority that whatever you call it, _alive_  is preferable," Tavi snarked, and kissed him again.

There were, he supposed, benefits to being fearless after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> That last fight was the primary impetus behind Tavi getting Aloth a sword and showing him how to use it. (aka between The White March part one and part two is when I realized that, y’know, the guy has a sword in a bunch of the official art LET’S TRY IT and he went from being ridiculously squishy to practically invincible. Tavi was very turned on)


End file.
